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World Markets:

Global markets were set to post a weaker day as most of Europe traded lower. The DAX led the charge lower losing 1.25% ahead of the open to U.S. equity trading. In Asia, the Nikkei lost 0.58% but the Hang Seng and Aussie All Ordinaries finished higher by nearly a half percent respectively. Spot gold had lost nearly 0.65 along with the dollar index that lost some ground early on as well.

Heads up: Later this morning lookout for the June ISM Non-Manufacturing data due to be released at 10amEDT.

This week the earnings period will get kicked off with EPS reports from General Electric(GE:NYSE), Alcoa(AA:NYSE) and Yahoo!(YHOO:NASD).

Brokerage Chatter:

Smith Barney made some negative chatter on Nokia(NOK:NYSE) citing that they could reduce its guidance later in the week. CSFB downgraded Amgen(AMGN:NASD) citing a lack of foreseeable catalysts. Barron's over the weekend made positive comments for Newmont Mining(NEM:NYSE), Boeing(BA:NYSE), Boston Scientific(BSX:NYSE), Microsoft(MSFT:NASD) and Washington Mutual(WM:NYSE) while offering pause to Guidant(GDT:NYSE) and tech companies that could be mandated to expense their outstanding stock options next year.

Qualcomm(QCOM:NASD) had its price target raised to $93 at Piper. UBS upgraded Intl Game Tech(IGT:NYSE) to buy from neutral and raised its target to $46 from $40.50. Lehman Brothers cut the Semi group and individually reduced the estimates and price target for Intel(INTC:NADS). Prudential downgraded the P&C Insurance sector individually cutting St. Paul Traverlers(STA:NYSE) however offering an upgrade to Safeco(SAFC:NASD) to neutral from underweight. Boeing(BA:NYSE) was upped to market perform from underperform at Wachovia.

Financial Headlines:Stories :

The Wall Street Journal reported today that U.S. business leaders are believed to be very anti-John Edwards, and should Presidential hopeful John Kerry choose him as his running mate the Democrats could lose some influential votes. Tom Donohue, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has commented that he would aggressively campaign against Kerry despite a long tradition of the Chamber staying neutral. While speculation loomed that Dick Gephardt could be the running mate for Kerry, CNN and Fox News have reported that John Edwards has been selected to take on President Bush in November. Kerry confirmed that in an early morning rally in Pennsylvania when he formally introduced Edwards as his running mate.

According to the Financial Times, the Int'l Securities Exchange has planned on raising $100 million from an IPO this year, making it the first U.S. options exchange to sell its shares to the public in the process,. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Arab-television network, Al Jazeera would be interested in selling shares to the public in the next two to three years after becoming profitable.

Russian oil giant Yukos was said to be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy this past weekend after its bank accounts were frozen due to a couple of billion in unpaid taxes. Some analysts are concerned that a Yukos collapse could send global oil prices through the roof. Bloomberg newswires report early this morning that shares of Yukos in Russia surged after a report indicated that they may receive a tax extension while the bankruptcy looms overhead.

Earnings:

Micromuse(MUSE:NASD) guided its 3rd quarter revenues below consensus.

Around the world in 80 ticks:

The Wall Street Journal reports that Morgan Stanley(MWD:NYSE) will become the first Wall Street broker to make its way to court to defend itself against sexual bias allegations. The trial that starts tomorrow will have Morgan defend itself against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that it discriminated against female employees in its institutional equities business. While many sexual bias suits have been brought against brokerages in the past, this would represent the first one brought to trial in a public forum. According to court papers filed, nearly 20 women will testify that they were excluded from "male-only" outings such as trips to strip clubs but also subjected to crude behavior at the same time.

According to the UK Telegraph, China is offering a medical refuge for terminally ill cancer patients from Europe and America. China is offering treatment with a revolutionary anti-tumor drug, the world's first officially licensed "gene therapy". The Chinese government approved the manufacture and use of the drug last year following clinical trials which discovered profound improvements in the survival rate for patients with cancer of the head and neck. Patients with lung and stomach cancer are now also receiving treatment from Chinese physicians.

'Spidey' broke records on its opening day last Wednesday after it brought in $40.2 million in ticket sales and then continued its weekend assault on the box office by capturing a total of $180 million in ticket sales since its opening day. Spiderman II which took in $115.8 million over the important four day holiday weekend is owned by Sony(SNE:NYSE) and Marvel Enterprises(MVL:NYSE).

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